Madam Speaker, the next petition I am tabling relates to the Liberal government's feminist international assistance policy. The petitioners highlight the Auditor General's report, which shows that the Liberal approach to international development for women and girls has been criticized by the Auditor General for failing to measure results.
The petitioners further note that this policy has shown a lack of respect for cultural values and autonomy of women in the developing world by supporting organizations that violate local laws and push western priorities at the expense of local development priorities, such as clean water, access to basic nutrition and economic development. The petitioners further argue that the Muskoka initiative launched by the previous Conservative government involved historic investments in the well-being of women and girls around the world, emphasizing value for money and ensuring that investments were in priorities identified by local communities.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to align international development spending with the approach taken in the Muskoka initiative, focusing international development dollars on meeting the basic needs of vulnerable women around the world, rather than pushing ideological agendas that conflict with local values in developing countries. They also want to see an approach that actually constructively measures outcomes.